Title
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - Procedure for Paying Graduate Student Health Insurance Program (GSHIP) Insurance Premium
Introduction
Purpose
This Procedure describes the GSHIP insurance premium payment process and subsequent distribution of charges to the departments.
Scope
University units which hire graduate students and enroll them into the Graduate Student Health Insurance Program.
Procedure Statement
The Plan Administrator, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBS) bills the University on a monthly basis for the insurance premium costs of the Graduate Student Health Insurance Program. The Graduate School pays the premium on behalf of all units from a central clearing account, then a journal entry is created to distribute the premium expenses among the units. The individual unit that enrolls the student in GSHIP does not need to take action to pay the premium.
The same sources of funds that provide financial support to the graduate student are charged the proportionate cost of the health insurance premiums. If the department chooses to use a different source, there is an option to change the source in the GradStar/GSHIP section of Student Administration in ConnectCarolina. Specific instructions can be found on the GSHIP section of The Graduate School's website: https://gradschool.unc.edu/facultystaff/funding/gship/.
Premium expenses for a particular month are prorated among each student's salary, and non-service award sources of the same month. For example, the premium expenses for the enrollment month of March 1 through March 31 are posted in March and are prorated based on the student's salary and non-service award sources for the calendar month of March.
The first premium expense posting for the new plan year will not occur until October and will represent the premiums paid for the two-month period from August 1, through September 30. The student's salary and non-service award sources for the calendar months of August and September will be used to prorate the first premium.
Cost Allocation Process
The cost allocation process will use data from the GradStar System and the HR/Payroll System in ConnectCarolina. The GradStar System will provide data for non-service awards for the Fall Semester allocated over the five-month period August through December, and for the Spring Semester allocated over the five-month period January through May.
The GradStar data will be combined with monthly data from the HR/Payroll system. The monthly Graduate Student Health Insurance Plan expense transactions will be calculated and then posted in ConnectCarolina. The following example of the calculation is provided:
Cost Allocation Process Example
| Item |
Fellowship
GradStar |
Trainee Stipend
GradStar |
Service:
Payroll |
Total |
| Awards/Payments Total |
$1,000.00 |
$5,000.00 |
$7,000.00 |
$13,000.00 |
| Awards/Payments per Month (Total divided by 5) |
$200.00 |
$1000.00 |
$1,400.00 |
$2,600.00 |
| Premium Cost per Month |
-- |
-- |
-- |
$350.00 |
| Percent of Total for Each Source per Month |
7.69% |
38.46% |
53.85% |
100.00% |
| Premium Expense Posted in ConnectCarolina |
$26.92 |
$134.62 |
$188.46 |
$350.00 |
Forms and Instructions
Related Policies
Related Data
Separate accounts are used when the payment to the graduate student represents a salary (e.g. 515540) and when the payment to the student represents a fellowship (e.g.569220).
History
Revised:
- June 6, 2023: Added Introduction and Scope of Applicability
- May 5, 2022: Updated table and data information to HR/Payroll from Capital Management and Accounts Payable systems.
- June 30, 2016: Reviewed for accuracy
- July 29, 2015: Updated system information.
- July 23, 2014: Updated timeline for posting premium expenses, cost allocation process.
- July 8, 2013: Updated dates in Contracts and Grants section.
- July 20, 2011
- July 9, 2010
- June 30, 2009